U.S. Must Act on Pat-Down Backlash, Lawmaker Says

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government must take steps
to improve airline passenger privacy after an outcry over pat-down procedures at airport checkpoints, said Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison, a Texas Republican.

“We’ve got to see some action,” Hutchison told John
Pistole, chief of the Transportation Security Administration, at
a hearing today in Washington. “We’ve got to do more. The
outcry is huge.”

Pistole ordered the more-thorough pat-downs nationwide this
month. He says they are necessary to ensure that all passengers
are screened and to avoid an attack such as the one on Christmas
last year. A Nigerian man with explosives hidden in his
underpants tried to blow up a jet as it landed in Detroit.

Passengers and groups such as civil liberties organization
Electronic Privacy Information Center and FlyersRights.org
started advocating a National Opt Out Day on Nov. 24 to protest
the use of body scanners and search procedures.

Senator George LeMieux, a Florida Republican, said he is
bothered by the pat-downs and “wouldn’t want my wife being
touched in the way these people are being touched.”

Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said she has
received the “love pats” at airports because she has an
artificial knee. She said she is “wildly excited” to be able
to use a body scanner to avoid them.

Educating the Public

At the same time, the government “can do a better job of
public education” about the new pat-down procedures, McCaskill
told Pistole.

Passengers get pat-downs at airports if they decline to go
through full-body scans that show any items hidden beneath their
clothing, or if they trigger alarms while going through metal
detectors. More than 99 percent of passengers are going through
the body scanners rather than requesting a pat-down, the
security agency has said.

Pat-downs include agents using the palm side of their hand
and fingers instead of the back of the hand, which was the
previous practice. Agents are allowed to feel around breasts and
genitals for hidden items. The searches are done by agents of
the same sex as the passenger, and the traveler can ask for them
to be done in private.

“It is thorough,” Pistole said of the pat-down he
received before ordering the procedure. “It was more invasive
than what I was used to.”